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The Toronto Police Service has purchased 51 patrol carbines, high-powered rifles that will be distributed to each of the city’s 17 police divisions and available to frontline officers.

The force has purchased the C8 patrol carbines — a military style semi-automatic gun — to be paired with the “less lethal” sock-guns currently being sent to each division, Toronto police spokesperson Mark Pugash said Tuesday. The rollout of the weapons will be finished by the end of May.

The plan is to have three so-called sock guns, also known as beanbag guns, and three patrol carbines available in each division, 24 hours a day, in the same car. The sock gun and the rifle, Pugash said, will go “hand in hand.”

Pugash said he could not provide the total price tag for the new weapons Tuesday. On average, each gun costs between $2,000 to $3,000.

Specialized squads within Toronto police have used the rifles for years, some for well over a decade, including the force’s Emergency Task Force, the Guns and Gangs Unit, members of the Toronto police drug squad, and the Repeat Offender Parole Enforcement (ROPE) squad.

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There was also a pilot project in 2013 that saw the short-barrelled rifles being used at divisions across the city, one in Scarborough, one downtown, and one in the city’s northwest corner.

The force purchased the rifles because they are more accurate than shotguns and easier for some officers to use, Pugash said. He added that, unlike a shotgun, the carbine can penetrate soft-body armour that is increasingly being worn.

Last fall, Toronto police announced it was converting some of its regular 12 gauge shotguns into the “less lethal” guns; instead of bullets, these guns are loaded with a “bullet” made of soft, granular material that inflicts pain but does not penetrate the body.

Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders has said the sock guns are particularly for use during interactions with people who are carrying weapons and experiencing a mental health crisis. They will be distinguished between regular shotguns by a bright coat of paint.

The aim is to provide frontline police officers with an effective option for use force that is an alternative to the deadly force of guns, Pugash said. The new rifles replace those shotguns being converted to sock-guns, so officers still have the option to use a rifle.

Police forces across North America are increasingly turning to the C8 rifle, which boasts numerous advantages to shotguns or the service-issued sidearm. Patrol carbines are generally lighter and more accurate than pistols or shotguns, and can shoot further. The carbine can also be fired repeatedly without constantly having to reload.

Darryl Davies, a criminology instructor at Carleton University, said police are now confronting criminals and terrorists wielding high power assault rifles with greater regularity — and their pistols and shotguns are “antiquated weapons” that are no match for an assault rifle.

Following the 2014 shooting deaths of three RCMP constables in Moncton, New Brunswick, there was harsh criticism officers did not have the weaponry necessary to compete with convicted killer Justin Bourque’s M305 semi-automatic rifle. The Mounties only had their handguns and three shot guns; many law enforcement experts said the carbine may have levelled the playing field.

Davies, who recently served as a consultant to the RCMP on the feasibility of its officers suing the patrol carbine, said he hopes Toronto police have a “very intensive training program” in place to ensure officers know how to use, store and maintain the weapon.

Pugash confirmed there will be special training for officers on the C8 rifle.

The increasing popularity of the rifle within police services has lead to criticism that there is a creeping militarization of police services across Canada. Robert Gordon, a criminology professor at Simon Fraser University (SFU), said there is insufficient evidence patrol carbines are necessary in Canadian cities.

“Show me that you need this high-power weaponry, which is actually military grade weaponry,” said Gordon, who worked as a former police officer in England and Australia.

“I think anyone who is working in a civil police service needs to be very concerned about a loss of that civil component.”

Rick Parent, a former officer with British Columbia’s Delta Police Department and now an assistant professor in police studies at SFU, said the acquisition of patrol carbines is positive because they are safer and more effective.

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